Osama
bin Laden is dead, or so we're told. May I
see his death certificate?

(I hear they threw his body in the ocean.
I figured they'd cremate him and bury the
remains
next to Ken Lay.)

What this means is that the U.S. has spent
trillions of dollars to kill a man who bombed
the U.S.
embassy
in East Africa in August of 1998.

What? 9-11? Sorry, OBL was never formally charged
by the FBI with that crime. No matter how many
times he claimed responsibility for the attack
on the Twin Towers, in various audio and video
tapes of dubious authenticity, that's not the
same thing as real proof.

Bin Laden is simply a boogeyman whose death
is now convenient fodder for all sorts of U.S.
propaganda,
but it's not going to substantially change
our military presence in the Middle East. We're
staying, because that's where the oil is.

His
death is primarily an excuse to gain a few
brownie points for this administration, while
simultaneously
raising the level of paranoia and xenophobia
among
the
more gullible of our citizens who actually
believe that tiny bands of fundamentalist
Muslims
are determined to "take
their freedoms", something they happily handed
over
a decade ago to
the fascists that actually own and operate
this country.

I leave you with this:

“Joyfully celebrating the
killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated
killing carries an irony that I hope will not
be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or
simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?” -
Brian McLaren

Life was a lot different back when I was young.
Back then there was no such thing as DVDs.
Back then the newspaper was delivered twice a day.
Back then all children went to public school. No one heard of charter
schools or vouchers.
Back then travel was easy. You could hop on a plane and fly anywhere.
No questions asked.
Back then our TV's came in big plastic boxes and we trusted the people
who told us the news.
Back then we used paper ballots so we always knew who got our vote.
Back then we fought wars against other countries. Now we fight wars
against ideas, like terrorism.
Back then we all dreamed of doing better than our parents.
Back then the national debt was one-third the size it is now.
Yes, things have changed so much over my lifetime.
And I'm not even old enough to vote.